Japan’s Nikkei Settled Ahead of Fed

The Japanese Nikkei index ended Wednesday’s session, December 15th, in cautious trading ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s decision, which is expected to be decisive on monetary policy, as it is expected to tend to reduce asset purchases at a faster pace.

Investors expect the US Federal Open Market Committee to adopt a more conservative policy at the conclusion of its two-day meeting later in the day, which would accelerate the pace of reduction of bond-buying incentives and perhaps pave the way for an early rate hike.

Nikkei settled at 28,459.72 points, while the broader Topix index closed 0.52% higher.

The Transportation Equipment sub-index was the best performing sector on Topix as it rose 2.47%, and a 2.99% drop in the Maritime Transport Sector stocks made it the worst performer by a wide margin.